Image: Ball Corporation
By Nikki-Lee Birdsey for IRIS.xyz
The 10-year-long bull market is set to continue through early 2020, but it will be subject to rising political and economic policy uncertainty from major financial centers in the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Goldman Sachs’ 2020 U.S. Equity Outlook, released in November, had a base prediction that the S&P 500 will rise to 3400 through the end of 2020, but all of this is heavily contingent upon US election outcomes.
An alternative perspective is that trade tensions between China and the US, combined with uncertain oil prices, have market participants concerned that a global economic slowdown is in the near future.
Time to Go Defensive?
While economists aren’t forecasting a recession yet, investors might want to increase the weight of defensive stocks in their profiles. In a mid-year report Mike Wilson, Chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said of the bull market, “We’re moving from the perception that this is late-cycle to a belief that it’s end of cycle.”
Wilson continued, “In the past year, defensive stocks and bonds have been the place to be, not growth stocks, particularly on a risk-adjusted basis. While growth stocks resumed their leadership during the first half of the year, they relinquished it again in mid-July, which is when the positive correlation between bonds and stocks reversed.”
Ball Corp [
With a 10-year streak of paying dividends without interruptions, Ball Corp is a safe bet, and also has a market capitalization of over $30 billion.
Broadcom [
PepsiCo Inc. [
Nikki-Lee Birdsey writes for Finscreener, part of CME Group.
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Equities Contributor: IRIS.xyz
Source: Equities News